1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of vehicle body construction of a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly, to a side wall construction of a vehicle body reinforced against a longitudinal clashing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vehicle such as an automobile generally has a side wail construction such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein FIG. 2 shows a section along line IIxe2x80x94II in FIG. 1. As shown in these figures, the conventional side wall construction generally designated by 10 includes an annular frame portion generally designated by 12 composed of a first pillar portion (front pillar) 14, a second pillar portion (center pillar) 16 displaced rearward from the first pillar portion, a roof side portion 18 connecting an upper end of the second pillar portion with an upper end of the first pillar portion, and a locker portion 20 connecting a lower end of the second pillar portion with a lower end of the first pillar portion, so as to define a framed door opening 22, and a door (front door) 24 adapted to selectively open or close the framed door opening 22.
The door 24 has an upper half portion 24U providing a window opening 26, and a lower half portion 24L having an upper edge 24E defining a lower edge of the window opening 26. Generally, the lower half portion 24L of the door is assembled from an outer door panel 28 and an inner door panel 30. Rim members 32 and 34 are mounted along upper edges of the outer and inner door panels 28 and 30, respectively, to form the lower edge 24E of the window opening 26, with rubber seal members 36 and 38 fastened to the rim members 32 and 34, respectively, to define a slit opening through which a window glass 40 diagrammatically shown in FIG. 2 is guided. The inside surface of the lower half portion of the door is covered with a cushion layer 42.
A strip plate member formed into a channel shape such as shown by 44 is generally conventionally attached to the inside of the outer door panel 28 along the upper edge thereof by spot welding or the like, so as to increase the firmness of the door configuration.
A front side member 46 for suspending a front wheel 48 is firmly connected to a lower portion of the first pillar portion 14 at its rear end, while a front fender apron 50 is mounted on the front side member 46. A construction for a firm connection of the front side member 46 to the first pillar portion 14 is shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication 4-126678 assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
When the vehicle having a side wall construction such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 collides with an obstacle at its front end, a collision force such as shown by an arrow Fa is transmitted through the front side member 46 to the first pillar portion 14, and further, after a small deformation of the side wall construction, the collision force Fa is partly diverted to a force such as shown by an arrow Fb transmitted to the first pillar member 14 via the front fender apron 50 as shown in FIG. 1.
In the conventional side wall construction, a larger part of the collision force Fa is transmitted to the locker portion 20 as shown by an arrow Fc and to the roof side portion 18 as shown by an arrow Fd than to the door 24 as shown by an arrow Fe. In other words, the door 24 of the conventional construction does not much support the collision force Fa because of its low strength against the longitudinal compression. This is due to a generally rounded configuration of the door provided by an assembly of the outer door panel and the inner door panel, each being a relatively thin metal plate moderately curved when viewed in a horizontal section along the side planar contour of the vehicle body, thereby presenting a longitudinally flexible construction against a longitudinal compression. The channel shaped strip plate member 44 in the conventional construction, alone or in combination with a corresponding part of the outer door panel 28 with which it forms a tubular construction, does not much effectively support a compression force applied to the door because of its poor firmness by itself due to a thin wall construction partly provided by the outer door panel 28.
In reviewing such a conventional side wall construction of the vehicle body, it is contemplated that if the longitudinal strength of the door against a longitudinal collision force is increased so as to bear a larger force Fe, the force Fd transmitted through the roof side portion 16 is decreased, so that the head portion of the driver or the passenger is more effectively protected from being damaged by a collision causing a rearward clashing of the roof portion of the vehicle body.
In view of the above, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved side wall construction of a vehicle body in which a longitudinal collision force is more effectively supported by a door.
According to the present invention, such a primary object is accomplished by a side wall construction of a vehicle body, comprising an annular frame structure composed of a first pillar portion, a second pillar portion displaced rearward from the first pillar portion, a roof side portion connecting an upper end of the second pillar portion with an upper end of the first pillar portion, and a locker portion connecting a lower end of the second pillar portion with a lower end of the first pillar portion, so as to define a framed door opening, and a door adapted to selectively open or close the framed door opening, wherein the door is longitudinally reinforced by a longitudinal reinforcement so that, when the first pillar portion is biased toward the second pillar portion by a force longitudinal to the vehicle body, a larger part of the force is transmitted through the door than through the roof side portion.
When the door is so longitudinally reinforced by a longitudinal reinforcement that, when the first pillar portion is biased toward the second pillar portion by a force longitudinal to the vehicle body, a larger part of the force is transmitted through the door than through the roof side portion, the door operates more effectively to support the longitudinal force applied to the side wall construction by a longitudinal collision, thereby decreasing the rearward clash shifting of the roof portion of the vehicle body, so that the danger of the driver and the passenger sitting aside to the driver being damaged at their heads is effectively decreased.
In this connection, it will be appreciated that the condition of a larger part of the force being transmitted through the door than through the roof side portion according to a biasing of the first pillar portion toward the second pillar portion is satisfied when the longitudinal compression strength of at least the longitudinal reinforcement is larger than that of the roof side portion.
When the side wall construction is so constructed that the door is assembled substantially from an outer door panel and an inner door panel, the longitudinal reinforcement may incorporates a tubular type member extending substantially longitudinally of the vehicle body, the tubular type member having an annular cross section separate from the outer and inner door panels.
Since a tubular type member is highly resistive against a compression under a twisting, when such a tubular type longitudinal reinforcement is incorporated into the door separately from the outer and inner door panels, so as to extend substantially longitudinally of the vehicle body, a longitudinally compressive force applied to the door, which is liable to twist when longitudinally compressed thereby more readily subjecting to a compression clashing, is effectively supported so as to let the door be a more effective structural component of the side wall construction of the vehicle to bear such a longitudinal force applied thereto due to a longitudinal collision of the vehicle.
When the door has an upper half portion providing a window opening, and a lower half portion having an upper edge thereof defining a lower edge of the window opening, the longitudinal reinforcement may be provided in the lower half portion so as to extend along the upper edge thereof. In this case, the longitudinal reinforcement may substitute for a corresponding upper edge portion of the inner door panel so as to form the upper edge of the lower half portion of the door.
The longitudinal reinforcement may have a quadrilateral cross section so as more desirably to conform to the cross sectional condition of the door, although the invention is not limited to such a construction in view of the essential function of the longitudinal reinforcement.
According to the present invention, the door may further comprise a lateral cushion combined with the longitudinal reinforcement such that a driver or a passenger sitting aside to the longitudinal reinforcement is laterally softly supported by the longitudinal reinforcement. Such a lateral cushion may be an inverted gutter member presenting a convex side thereof toward the inside of the vehicle body, so as to present a flexible support surface toward the driver or the passenger. Such a lateral cushion may be provided to extend along only a longitudinal part of the longitudinal reinforcement so as to correspond to the upper half portion of the driver or the passenger sitting thereaside.
The side wall construction according to the present invention may be so constructed as to comprise a front side member and a front fender apron, with the first pillar portion to be a front pillar portion to which the front side member is connected and the front fender apron is contactible when biased rearward due to a longitudinal corruption of the front side member, while the second pillar portion is a center pillar portion.